Out-of-character adventure discussion

[Umiushi]

This will be the thread for out-of-character discussions and talk related to rules and game mechanics relevant to the current adventure.

[Umiushi]

The adventure starts with the barge in particularly rough waters, on a hot afternoon, after two days of travel.

Die Rolls
Make any required die rolls as part of your posts in this thread, which is now open.

Use the following format:

* Endurance Check: Heat Exhaustion *

If you have any relevant modifiers that aren't due to your ability scores or skill training, please note them in parentheses, between the ROLL tags.

Do not re-roll. If there are any problems with your modifiers, they will be adjusted, but the die roll will remain.

Position
Note your position on the barge. The barge is 4 squares wide and 7 squares long with a single deck. I'll dispense with naval terminology: you can specify a general position, such as center, left, right, front, or rear. You can also note if you are near any other player character, with the pilot (who is in the front), or with the crew (which is scattered all over). If it matters, the barge is expecting to dock with its right side towards shore.

Equipment Readiness
I am starting with the assumption that everyone is wearing or carrying what is listed on their character sheet. However, at your option, you may have any of your equipment, including armor and weapons, stowed by the crew, to be released at your destination, free of charge. Note this in your post before you make any rolls related to heat exhaustion (see below).

"Seasickness"
Everyone makes a Constitution Check at DC 10. If the character fails, they lose a healing surge. A player may choose to inform me that they wish to keep the healing surge, but then they will be effectively seasick:

• The character grants combat advantage.
• The character takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks.
• The character takes a -1 penalty to speed (minimum speed of 1). Shifting is still allowed at no penalty.

Seasickness can be dealt with in the following ways:

• Take a Short Rest on solid land. This option is not currently available: the party is not on solid land.
  
• In combat, use any healing ability or any ability that grants a saving throw. No saving throw needs to be made, and no hit points are gained. Other effects, such as the defensive bonus of the Second Wind action, are as normal. This option is not currently available: the party is not in combat.
• A healing surge that is lost to avoid being seasick can only be regained after an Extended Rest on solid land. This option is not currently available.

Heat Exhaustion
Whatever a character is wearing or carrying at the start of the adventure is assumed to have been worn or carried in this manner for most of the waking hours of the journey as there was no particular reason to don armor or equipment recently. The past two days have been quite warm. Therefore, some heavily-encumbered characters may be at risk for minor heat exhaustion.

Anyone who is wearing hide armor, or heavy armor of any sort, or for some reason is carrying a heavy load (10x Strength score in pounds, see Player's Handbook, page 222) must make an Endurance Check at DC 10. Failure means the character has lost one healing surge. This is in addition to any healing surge lost due to seasickness.

Due Date
These rolls and posts are due as part of the players' first posts: 11 pm, Tuesday, April 7th. You may make these rolls any time between now and then. Making them early may provide for a better understanding of your character's situation.

[ulgrath]

* sea sickness *

* heat exhaustion *

[JohnChrist]

* Endurance Check: Heat Exhaustion *

* Constitution Check: Seasickness *

*doesn't feel good about these rolls*
--- Merged from Double Post ---
And I think I'll go ahead and lose the healing surge.. :/

[Myn]

* Constitution Check: Seasickness *

I will be with Morgran, if he has any preference as to where he is on the barge. If he does not, I'm sitting with him under any shade if it's available (if no shade we're right in the middle of the barge, 3 squares from the front).

*edit* I notice that my roll is "0 + 2", which doesn't make sense to me, did I mess up the roll somehow? The text I put in was "1d20 + 2".

If that is indeed a valid roll I'll take the loss of the healing surge.

[JohnChrist]

Myn you had the syntax for the roll wrong (I duplicated similar results in the questions forum).

You can't have the spaces in the roll= part. If you quote one of the replies that it is functioning on you can see the syntax they used. Also, apparently you shouldn't double-post. When it auto merges it rolls again which is why my post up there has two rolls.

Oh and I think I'm gonna hang out near an edge (the right one I suppose) leaning against a crate if there is one on account of my seasickedness (needing to barf and all :P)

[Myn]

* Constitution Check: Seasickness *

I will be with Morgran, if he has any preference as to where he is on the barge. If he does not, I'm sitting with him under any shade if it's available (if no shade we're right in the middle of the barge, 3 squares from the front).

*edit* I notice that my roll is "0 + 2", which doesn't make sense to me, did I mess up the roll somehow? The text I put in was "1d20 + 2".

If that is indeed a valid roll I'll take the loss of the healing surge.

In that case, here is my official seasickness roll:

* Seasickness *

[Cocoa]

Wow, the water must be pretty rough if we're getting seasick. Or maybe there was something in those little snacks my character bought earlier today... After the hot weather, they could easily have gone bad.

I'm wearing leather, so no heat exhaustion check for me.

I don't care about where my character is sitting. Hanging out with the other folks she knows is good enough. I'd prefer along the sides near the back, where one might feel a breeze, and where a seasick person might be expected to stand. Shade would be good. A wet cloth stuffed under a wide-brimmed hat would be good, too.

Keeping an idle lookout for trouble might be good, but that depends on the seasickness check. My character doesn't have wonderful perception, so might not notice the creepy-crawlies climbing up the side of the boat anyway.

Here goes the dice roll. Let's hope I got the syntax right.

* seasickness check *

I haven't decided what I'll do if my character ends up seasick.
--- Merged from Double Post ---
Ugh, that's not an auspicious start to the adventure. Puking over the railing in front of the crowd! I still blame the food. Or maybe I should have the DM roll for me next time in hopes that you'll have better luck than I do.

I too will take the healing surge for my character.
--- Merged from Double Post ---
That's really odd. Why does the post above show a second dice roll for a seasickness check? And why did it auto-merge? I didn't do it, honest!

I do like the second roll better, of course, but I'm pretty sure the first result is the one that counts.

[TheGreenLabrador]

Tanglar has removed his armor, and is bare-chested on the barge, sitting and leaning against a crate. His eyes are closed as he concentrates to keep his stomach down after the hours upon hours of slight rocking on the river. If he can find something to shade his head, he will do so, as he has already tried his pack and bedroll. His 4 Tratnyrs lie next to him, along with his pack, and the top and arm guards of his hide armor.

I assume taking the top and arm guards of the hide armor, leaving only the leggings is effectively negating the armor bonus, and therefore the requirement for the endurance check.

* Constitution Check: Seasickness *

*edit* I think I have the syntax correct, but it isn't showing the roll....

*edit 2* got it. Needed to check the reroll dice box.

[JohnChrist]

Ugh, that's not an auspicious start to the adventure. Puking over the railing in front of the crowd! I still blame the food. Or maybe I should have the DM roll for me next time in hopes that you'll have better luck than I do.

LOL almost everyone is so you have company.

*edit* I think I have the syntax correct, but it isn't showing the roll....

It looks right. Did you use the dice roller thing in the chat entry? It's the red box with 6 white dots on it. Makes it easier than writing it out if you ask me. You just put in the numbers.

[Umiushi]

Tanglar has removed his armor, and is bare-chested on the barge, sitting and leaning against a crate. His eyes are closed as he concentrates to keep his stomach down after the hours upon hours of slight rocking on the river. If he can find something to shade his head, he will do so, as he has already tried his pack and bedroll. His 4 Tratnyrs lie next to him, along with his pack, and the top and arm guards of his hide armor.

I assume taking the top and arm guards of the hide armor, leaving only the leggings is effectively negating the armor bonus, and therefore the requirement for the endurance check.

* Constitution Check: Seasickness *

*edit* I think I have the syntax correct, but it isn't showing the roll....

I looked at this for a while, including the editing history, and I can't see anything wrong with the syntax, either. Here are my suggestions:

• If you didn't do it this way the first time, try posting again using the red dice rolling button that JohnChrist suggested.
• Both the 1d20 and d20 format are valid. Try posting again using the d20+1 format instead of 1d20+1.
• Edit your post one more time, and make sure you have the check box marked "Reroll Dice in Post" checked if you haven't previously tried that.
• Post or send me a pm with permission to edit your post, and I will spend a few minutes messing around with it. Be prepared to accept the result of the die roll if I get it working.

Edit: As you can see, your syntax is working in this post. Unfortunately, I won't be accepting this particular roll. The reason is: I wouldn't have been prepared to accept it if you had failed the check. In any case, it looks hopeful you will be able to proceed with the roll, either by editing your original post or by making a new post.

[JohnChrist]

Man we are apparently being ferried down the river by the SS Vomit Comet home of the worst crew ever. Is anyone not going to be seasick?

[ulgrath]

not sea sick but stumbling all over the place as the boat rocks lol just dont get any on the boat with my dex i will slide off the edge

[Myn]

I think the healing surge negates actual seasickness, but needless to say, it's not a pleasant ride.

[Umiushi]

Somehow, in my mind's eye, I thought I was going to write "a fairly lengthy first post of about four paragraphs in length." I suppose all of you are already used to my wordy posts by now.

Still, I'd like to say at the outset that I expect the majority of my posts to be much shorter than this one. We'll see what truly happens.

Now, here's what I would like from the rest of you (in addition to any notes on position, seasickness, and heat exhaustion that are still outstanding):

• A brief narrative of what your character is up to. It can be anything from what the character is doing at the current moment, to how the character occupied himself or herself during the length of the trip.
• A short descriptive passage detailing how your character comes across. You needn't go heavily into the minutiae of physical description: there are some people I've known for decades whose eye color I wouldn't be able to tell you. Of course, you can if you want to, but what interests me the most here is more how what your character is wearing and how he or she presents himself creates an impression in others' minds as to who he or she is. Does your character seem like a noble, a churl, a sly merchant, an honest mendicant, or what? Do people take you as an outsider or a native? Are you some half-civilized sept-farmer, or a metropolitan sophisticate? Also, keep in mind your attributes. People will perceive a high Strength or Charisma right away. After a couple of days, they may notice a high or low Dexterity, or a low Strength, Constitution, or Charisma. A low Intelligence or Wisdom might be noted, but can be masked behind a high Charisma. Now that D&D is off the 3d6 system, I should probably explain that an 8-9 is -slightly- low, a 10-11 is average, 12-15 is high but may not be readily apparent, and a 16 or higher is prominent. A score of 20 readily shines forth.

As stated before, this is due 11 pm, Tuesday, April 7th. You don't need to follow the lead of my post: what you say can be just a couple of paragraphs in length.